Camden firefighter aiming for European Jiu-Jitsu glory

A firefighter from Camden, London, is making final preparations this week before flying out to Portugal on Wednesday 21st Jan in the hope of becoming European Champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Wayne Johnson, who by day is a firefighter with the London Fire Brigade, trains at the Gracie Barra London Bridge club and after topping the podium in his last competition in Liverpool, is feeling confident about placing well at the 4 day tournament in Lisbon, which brings together Europe’s top fighters. In the run up to the tournament Wayne has increased his training sessions to three times a day.

Wayne followed up his win in Liverpool by achieving his aim for 2014 – obtaining his purple belt – and now feels ready to take on Europe’s best.

On the challenge ahead of him, Wayne said:

”After being newly promoted to purple belt this will be my toughest challenge to date. The category I am fighting in is quite a big one and I am hoping that I can at least find my way onto the podium. It’s going to be a big challenge with some of the best fighters from across the world fighting for the title of European Champion!

“My ultimate goal is to achieve my BJJ black belt and go on to become a world champion in my division. Receiving my purple belt was one of the proudest moments of my career so far and a fantastic base on which to build and take forward from here. My confidence is high right now but I’m under no illusions that this will be tough.

On his decision to become a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter and his love for the sport Wayne added: “I started out training with the London Shootfighters with the intention of becoming a martial arts specialist. However, I very quickly fell in love with Jiujitsu and decided to work full time on my grappling skills.

“ I competed in a raft of competitions in 2013 and brought home medals from almost every one of them. It soon became clear that I was actually quite good at this and along with the fact that I absolutely love it, there was never any other option but to thrown myself into the sport and see how far I could go.”

Wayne’s first day of competition is Friday 23rd January.

Following the European Championships, Wayne then has just a couple of weeks to repair his body and prepare for the trials for the World Professional Jiujitsu championships which will take place in Birmingham.

Wayne is part of an elite Ambassador programme with leading sports nutrition company Deluxe Nutrition, who provide all of his supplements to ensure his body is in the best shape possible to compete. To find out more about the initiative, and to see whether you have what it takes to become an Ambassador, visit www.deluxenutrition.co.uk